Episode 6: The Stand
The Stand is the sixth episode of the first season in Dragon Booster. It first aired in the US on December 4, 2004. It was then aired in Canada on November 30, 2004 and in Australia on March 24, 2005. Plot Summary The episode opens with Moordryd Paynn and his crew stealing dragons for Word to make Wraith Dragons. All goes well until the Dragon Booster arrives and releases the captured dragons and after a brief skirmish, Word tells Moordryd to retreat. At Penn Stables, Parmon Sean tells Artha Penn to practice for the race. Artha insists that he's too tired to do anything and promptly goes to sleep while Lance decides to play vidd games, leaving Parmon unimpressed with the both of them. At his citadel, Word plans to steal Artha Penn's dragon (unaware that it is also the Dragon Booster’s dragon), targeting him as a worthy opponent, in order to turn him into a Wraith Dragon that will finally allow him to capture the Dragon of Legend. Moordryd insists that stealing Beau would be a great challenge, however Word reveals details of a more cunning plan to his son which the audience is yet to know of. Much later at the All City Racing circuit tents, Artha, Lance and Parmon are getting ready for their next race, taking note of how unruly the other dragons are becoming. Parmon points out that they need both points and gear just to make it to the Level 2 competitions- Artha suggests going straight into Level 3 competitions which would give them much more gear, Dracals and points. Shocked and annoyed, Parmon points out that Artha isn’t prepared for such a challenge, lacking both the training and gear. Cain, disguised as a Dragon Flares Crew member, now approaches the trio and advises Artha to get a sponsor. Parmon aggressively disagrees, but is outdone by Artha's curiosity and Cain's persuasion. Cain gives Artha a forged business card and tells him to see sponsor "Ro" at Building 1985, although even Beau is now suspicious of Cain. Artha later heads towards the building Cain spoke of, not realising that the real location is the Paynn Incorporated racing pit station at the race track. Artha speaks to Word (who is turned away from him) who reaches out to Artha’s struggles as an orphan forced to grow up early, and eventually convinces Artha to let him be his sponsor, giving him what appears to be Level 6 Green Draconium Ramming Gear. Back at the stables, Artha and Lance are thrilled to have some new and higher level gear to enter a Level 3 race with and take the rest of the day off to play vidd games, but Parmon is still extremely suspicious about the whole sponsorship scenario. The next day at the racetrack, Parmon is getting worried as Artha is late. He finally arrives, wondering where the new gear is but Parmon explains that since the gear is new, they will need to practice before using it in a serious race (much to Artha’s dismay). As the race begins, Parmon tells Artha that on the next lap he can mag some other gear if needed and Artha mentions the new Ramming gear, once again annoying Parmon with the subject. Further into the race, Artha struggles to simply keep up with his competitors as they push him around, and Parmon tells Artha to mag extra gear at the next gear pit. Instead of taking the Blue Turning & Brown Bashing gear, he takes the new Green Ramming gear. Artha insists that since he's the racer and that he knows best- but something doesn't feel right to Beau and he rejects the gear, magging it off his head. This is the first clue to viewers that the gear is not what it seems, as Green Ramming gear usually only attaches to a dragon’s chest, not its head as well. Artha gets really angry now but Beau still refuses; Artha proceeds to use his saddle controls and force-mag the gear onto Beau. With Beau now wearing the Ramming gear in the race, the next phase of Word's plan is complete. He contacts Moordryd about this and tells him to create an emergency big enough to lure the Dragon Booster. The new gear Word gave to Artha finally reveals itself to the audience to be re-painted Black Psi gear and, using his Wraith remote, Word starts to take control of Beau's movements and even Artha's saddle, activating all kinds of gear in order for Artha to take and win first place. Back at the tents, Artha finds out that Beau can't de-mag the gear no matter how hard he tries, even breaking off a piece in the struggle. Artha decides to take Beau to Mortis and ask him for advice while Parmon and Lance clear up the tent and head back to the stables. In the meantime, Moordryd, upon his father’s orders, sets up the necessary equipment with Cain in order to scare and release some dragons and cause a stampede. As Parmon and Lance head back to the stables later on, they end up being caught in this stampede and try to make a run for it while Word initiates his plans on Beau. Returning to the stables, Artha dismounts Beau and is about to open the door to the underground temple when Word again takes control of Beau again and has him run away to where the chaos is. Panicked, Artha rushes down to the dragon temple to see Mortis and show him the broken piece of the Green Ramming gear. Mortis reveals to Artha that it is indeed Black Psi Gear and a definite ploy of Word Paynn’s design. For fear of losing both the Dragon of Legend and his friends to Word's evil and the stampede, Artha transforms into the Dragon Booster and immediately sets off to find Beau. Mortis instructs Dragon Booster to take the aqueduct to the north end of Mid City in order to cut off the stampede. In the meantime, Word has full control of Beau with the Wraith Gear via remote controls, and has turned him into a completed Wraith Dragon. Dragon Booster makes it to an overpass that intersects the oncoming stampede, but the seismic vibrations caused by the stampeding dragons make it collapse beneath him and he lies unconscious on the pile of rubble. In spite of the road block, the dragons smash thought both it and Artha, and he picks himself up from the wreck. Mournful of his poor decisions, Artha deeply wishes for Beau's aid; energy resonates from the gauntlet’s amulet like a drop of water, and gold mag-streams guide themselves to Beau to communicate Artha’s feelings to him. Beau smashes his head against a nearby wall upon hearing Artha’s call, and the video link communication with Word is lost. The Wraith Gear is over-powered, and legendary Beau now appears in amongst the stampede. With Beau now free from the Wraith Gear, he sends a mag-stream back to Artha in order to find him, and they both head back to save Parmon and Lance for being trampled by the stampede. Artha contacts Parmon to tell him that they need some sort of diversion to scare the dragons off of the main road. Parmon immediately asks Lance for his vidd game and flash stick, combing the two and handing it to Dragon Booster. Using it, Artha creates a projected hologram of the game’s giant dragon, causing the stampede to divert onto a different route. Artha wishes he could just speak to the dragons to calm them down like he did previously with Beau; upon hearing this, Beau sets off to do just that, calling out to the stampeding dragons and succeeding in stopping the chaos, foiling Word’s plans. Upon seeing the other dragons bow to Beau’s call, Moordryd proceeds to say the line quoted in the show’s opening title: “Control that dragon… and you control the world!” The episode closes at Penn Stables; Artha, Parmon and Lance review the day’s happenings. Artha realizes the necessity of practice, while Parmon on the other hand is exhausted from everything and simply wants to sleep- Artha and Lance decide to tickle-attack him instead, just as he annoyed Artha about taking naps at the start of the episode. Important Events *This is the first time in the series Word speaks to Artha. *First appearance of Beau in Wraith form. Quotes & Trivia *“This is all my fault. We didn’t need anybody else’s help- we needed each other’s. Beau… I need you” - Artha as the Dragon Booster. *This is one of the few, if not only, episodes where Kitt Wonn doesn't make an appearance. Gallery Cain_disguised.png|Cain disguised as a Dragon Flare member. Stand_ep2.png|Artha unknowingly approaches Word Paynn. Stand_episode.png|The Dragon Booster defeats the Dragon Eye Crew- 2 crew members can be seen falling away in the background. Wraith_beau.png|Wraith Beau in the middle of the stampede. Fake_gear.png|The fake gear when first presented to Artha. Fake_gear2.png|Beau unable to mag the new gear off. Fake_gear3.png|The gear activates and takes its true form during the race. Video Category:Episodes